Mahoning Valley Forum

Another piece of Youngstown's history has met the wrecking ball.
The demolition of Wilson High School has begun.

That is a bloody crime. That building could very well have been used to house the trouble maker students that are causing so many problems at the other high schools.

This is the demolition from the north side of the school.

Watching them tear these buildings down make me so sick. It's going to be so hard to watch Rayen fall. Does anyone know if they are saving the war monument on the side of Wilson for future projects? Or did they tear that down also.

Jaime,

I echo your sentiment re: The Rayen School - I graduated Class of 1981.


Allan


:(

Does anyone know if they are restoring the Rayen Mural, does anyone have a picture of it? I'm not so sure about putting the restored mural into the new Rayen Middle School, (when does Rayen demolition begin?).

I went to Mooney and always loved driving past Wilson and wondering what the inside looked like..now I know what the inside really looks like as they tear it down. Many people have to be very upset with this choice. The school was nice, I know that there is always room for improvement and change...but this, I can imagine in 10 years will be long forgotten.

When we tore down the East side of Struthers Football Stadium this past summer we saved the 1937 WPA logo and will use it as a small monument when we complete the west side of the stadium this summer. All without using extra property tax dollars....

My late mother graduated from Wilson in the 1940's...she was always so proud to show me where she went to high school and where she lived in Lansingville when I was a child.

Dennis Spisak
Struthers Board of Education member
Independent Green Party candidate for state representative-60th district

Jaimie:

Allan has photos of the Rayen mural you asked about.

Jaime,

The photos of the Rayen Mural are on the website:  http://wwww.youngstownphotos.orgfree.com

Just click on the HIstoric Buildings link, then click the link for The Rayen School.


I don't think there will be any problem with the mural, once it is installed in the
new Rayen Middle School that is going to be built on the former Rayen High
School lot - all of the years it was on display at The Rayen School, it had a
plexiglass shield on top of it that was 1/4 inch thick, in order to protect
it and keep it clean.

Oh, and YES - the mural is being restored by a professional artist.  The
Lariccia family donated the funds to make this restoration possible.

FYI,
Allan
:)

I saw the pictures and thank you for that. Im glad that no one has bothered the mural and Im happy that they will be putting it in the new middle school.
I looked at many of your other pictures, it made me very sad actually. It feels like we've back tracked with everything. We have these BEAUTIFUL buildings and historical homes that can be used, but we of course take the cheap way out.

I am an intern at the Arms Museum, and I LOVE it there-- the house is AMAZING. Its absolutely beautiful. I'm too optimistic ha, I wish that more houses were like the Arms and that people could love them as much as we do.

Did they save the WWII monument on the side of the building?!?!